Synopses & Reviews
Oceans cover over 71% of the earths surface, absorb far greater amounts of carbon dioxide than rain forests, and exert a powerful control over climate, clouds, and weather. Yet our living oceans are imperiled as never before, plagued by overfishing, reckless development, and pollution. Will future generations be able to enjoy the riches of our nations greatest environmental treasure?
A fascinating account of Americas oceans and ocean politics, Blue Frontier explores the impact of history, commerce and policy on marine life - and by extension all life on earth. From the legacy of Navy-funded ocean research and development since World War II to the latest controversies surrounding beach closures, collapsing fish stocks, killer algae, hurricanes, and oil spills, Blue Frontier takes readers on an adventure-filled tour of Americas last great wilderness range.
Helvarg argues that sensible policies can still halt the onslaught of industrial destruction, despite todays wide-open development along our coasts and in our offshore waters. Profiling the growing number of coastal citizen-activists, local
governments, and waterfront communities that are working to protect and restore healthy seas for all of us, he shows how informed individuals can make a difference.
An impassioned call for a new approach to ocean stewardship, Blue Frontier is essential reading for anyone interested in saving our maritime culture and heritage.
Review
"Pick up B
lue Frontier and you won't be able to put it down."
—Paul R. Ehrlich, author of Human Natures: Genes, Cultures, and the Human Prospect
"An illuminating, insightful and sobering look at our imperiled oceans—and the challenges we must overcome if we are to save our ‘blue frontier."
—Ted Danson, actor, Founding President, American Oceans Campaign
"Helvarg's on-site and at-sea narrative puts you where the action is."
—Carl Safina, author of Song for the Blue Ocean
"I thought I knew the ocean, until I read David Helvargs book. Blue Frontier is a fascinating read."
—Alexandra Paul, actress, Baywatch
"A must-read for anyone seeking to put the current debate in context."
—Jim Toomey, syndicated cartoonist, Shermans Lagoon
"This insightful new book underscores the full measure of the challenge before us: If we hope to explore the blue frontier, we must travel cautiously, repairing the damage we have done, understanding before we exploit, and always preserving the natural systems that have created it."
—Senator John F. Kerry
Review
"The most comprehensive account available of the state of our nation's oceans . . ."
--Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature
"An infuriating portrayal of mankind's most breathtaking crime, the destruction of the oceans that birthed our species."
--Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
"The author connects the dots among the various threats to America's oceans surpassingly well."
--The Washington Post Book World
"A vivid tapestry of an America interwoven with the sea."
--San Jose Mercury News
Synopsis
A fascinating account of America's oceans and ocean politics,
Blue Frontier explores the impact of history, commerce, and policy on marine life -- and by extension all life on earth. From the legacy of navy-funded research and development since World War II to the current newsworthy topics such as beach closures, collapsing fish stocks, killer algae, hurricanes, and oil spills,
Blue Frontier takes readers on an adventure-filled tour of America's last great wilderness range.
Despite today's wide-open development along our coasts and in offshore waters, Blue Frontier argues that sensible policies can still halt the onslaught of industrial destruction. An impassioned call for a new approach to ocean stewardship, Blue Frontier is essential reading for anyone interested in saving our maritime culture and heritage.
About the Author
David Helvarg is a long-time ocean enthusiast whose reporting on the oceans goes back to the 1970s when he wrote an award-winning series of articles on the rush to develop deep sea mining. Since then he has produced dozens of articles and television documentary reports on a range of ocean topics, from off-shore drilling to Navy SEALs to high seas drift nets, as well as profiles of important figures in ocean exploration, which have appeared in
Smithsonian,
Audubon,
Men's Journal,
Dive Travel,
The San Francisco Examiner,
San Diego Union, and on
The McNeil-Leherer News Hour, PBS's
Green Means, Geraldo Rivera's
Now It Can Be Told, The Discovery Channel and A&E. A scuba diver and bodysurfer, Helvarg has written about his experiences diving Australia's Great Barrier Reef, riding a whale shark, and swimming with wild dolphins. He has shot and produced videos from an underwater habitat in the Florida Keys, aboard various ships of war, and on an offshore oil platform near Santa Barbara. In pursuit of stories he has also tagged blue sharks, caught freshwater sawfish, visited nuclear protesters on an island off the coast of Korea, bodysurfed in war-torn El Salvador, and been shipwrecked in Mexico. A contributing editor on NPR's
Marketplace, Helvarg delivers a regular radio column on ocean economics.